I keep trying to burn a CD-R, and every time itunes stops burning halfway through and i get this error message, "Attemp to burn a disc failed. Burn failed due to a medium write error." I am using memorex CD-R's and have tried with 4 times with different CD's. Is this a software or hardware problem? Any info would be awesome.

I have the wonderful spindle of solid color Memorex CD-R's. iTunes did give me some grief when trying to burn an Audio CD as well. It doesn't seem to happen anymore for me though. I suggest trying a different brand of media.

I don't see any need to get Apple branded discs. Try burning a data disc as well.

Just an update. I did manage to fix the problem, and didn't have to get a different brand of cd-r. Basically, the cd-r's that i had could write at a max speed of 52x. iTunes has several options for write speed. I had always had it set at "maximum possible". I think this may have caused a problem since the max possible with the memorex cd-r's is really high. So I just bumped it down to write at 16x, and it worked flawlessly. Next time im going to try at 24x, and then everything will be back to normal if it works. Also, I guess i could put the setting back to "maximu possible" and just purchase 24x cd-r's. Ah well, problem solved. I hope this may help others with similar issues.

hi,
i dont think the speed has anything to do with it
i have never had a problem burning anything from itunes
i have a c2d macbook.
the medium write error only came up when i tried to move my MB when it was burning and i could hear it rubbing against teh case.
But if i leave it on the desk i have no problems-
i burn 10-15 cds a day for work purposes

__________________
the only difference between a paperweight and a PC is the price tag!

speed is one of the factors related to this problem. I've had this before trying to burn some Ubuntu CD images onto CDs...very frustrating. It shouldnt matter what speed rating the CDs are either. as long as you're not burning over the rated speed it should be fine (burning faster than rated with a good quality drive works too). 24x is the drive's maximum speed, but the setting "Maximum possible" probably assesses the quality of the CD before burning and adjusts accordingly hence problem messages like failure to calibrate laser, etc.

Even though the media is rated for 52x, you should be able to burn at 24x with no problems. Its the drive's problem.

try to burn 4x for best burning quality, and then verify the data afterwards.

but in all seriousness, MBP drives (LG and Panasonic) are crap to begin with...probably because of such a thin design.

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[inquiring about MBP types]"we either have the regular, or the ultimate edition." -Apple sales rep
"could you just tell me the specs?"

I've been using the same big spindle of Memorex 52x CD-Rs for over a year and never had a problem burning audio CDs from iTunes on my MacBook. Now suddenly today I keep getting "medium write errors." I followed the advice on this thread and set the burn speed to 24x. That worked--once. Then I tried burning another audio CD at 24x (same settings, same everything), and got another "medium write error." The only way I was able to burn that second CD was as a data CD. What's the deal?

I find my Mac always gives an error when using 24x write speed. If I drop it down to the 4x write speed, works fine without any errors.

I've wasted a few CD's along the way of writing at full speed.

I just want to second this user: I was having trouble with different CD brands, even Apple customer service wasn't sure what was wrong. But when I took this advice and went to Preferences in iTunes, then Advanced>Burning, and dropped the write speed down to around 4x, the CD burned perfectly. Granted, it's a lot slower, but it works.

This is late, but I thought I'd post this here in hopes that it helps someone else...

I had been getting the dreaded medium write error for some time. I tried an external drive (an old one, not entirely reliable) and got the same thing. I thought for some reason it might be software related, so I restored my computer (a bit extreme, and an unlikely solution but I needed to do it anyways, so why not?). That didn't fix it. I did the PRAM reset (which would have no bearing on this anyways, but again why not?). I was about to give up and chalk it up to a faulty drive and bring it to apple to fix under my apple care.

As I was going to leave, I had one more idea. I went to work (I work at Best Buy) and picked up a CD laser lens cleaner disc. My MBP wouldn't load the disc, but when you put it in, the disc spins and tries to load, running the brushes over the laser.

A few times through that and my computer is working like a champ.

So before you try all that other crap, go out and spend the 10 bucks for the lens cleaner. : )

had the same problem, found this on another forum and it worked like a charm. who knows why...

I cannot believe it, but this crazy fix (on a 24" Core 2 Duo iMac) worked for me:

Open System Preferences.
Click on "International"
Under "Languages": Drag any of the other languages to the top,
then drag English back to the top.
Set "Order for sorted lists" to English
Set "Word Break" to English (United States, computer)
Close System Preferences
Restart computer

Incredible! It works! This is now at the top of my list for unbelievably arcane fixes...

I too is having this problem now. I used the be able to burn CD's w/ Memorex Music CD-R 40x 700mb 80 mins, about 6 months ago & now I decided to start burning more CD's and can't do it I keep getting Medium write error or it goes thru the cycle that it looks like the disc is being burned, but when I try playing it on a external player I have nothing. I put the disc back into my Imac G5 and I get you have put in a blank disc. I have read on some forums it's because of iTunes updated to iTunes 8 iTunes 7.7 was a better format is this true ?

Props to danny.merrill (4 posts above this one) for the fantastic idea
of trying a lens cleaner disc.

I've browsed the web and read several forums on this topic. I avoided
this problem as much as possible because I don't burn DVDs terribly
often. I could afford to try out many things, one at a time,
over an extended period of time. I have sacrificed a couple dozen
DVDs in the process, just like many others.

My problem is similar to eveyone else's except that I can easily burn
audio CDs in iTunes, yet I am unable to burn DVDs in Disk Utility or
Toast.

These things have NOT worked for me so far:
- reducing burn speed for DVDs
- saving as images first, then burning DVDs
- deleting the com.apple.finder.plist file
- resetting PRAM and NVRAM (worked only for 1 or two DVDs)
- chaning disc brands (``no-name,'' memorex, verbatim, sony...I
thought it worked at first, but only was successful with a few DVDs from
Sony...then I ran into the same problems)
- closing all other programs except Toast/Disc Utility to
conserve memory

The ONLY thing that has worked for me thus far:
- cleaning the lens with a CD lens cleaner

Therefore, I recommend that you spend a few dollars to buy one of these
"special" CDs with a soft little brush that cleans off the lens. I
have burned several different DVDs and CDs over the past few days
successfully.

I have a mac book purchased in March of '08. Same error "medium write error". Yesterday: tried it with 3 different types of cds: a memorex data and music and one Sony.

I'd encountered this before, that's when I bought the data and slowed down my speed to 16x. It was working fine for burning music from my Itunes for weeks. Then yesterday my favorite error message popped up again... sigh. I tried 2 more times with different cds and different speeds (slower), nothing. Got to work, borrowed a work cd, memorex, tried it at 2x - "error" - bumped the speed up to 24x (with the SAME EXACT CD) and it worked...

I will try the lens cleaner, that just seems wise. But wow, my problem has been so random it's almost scary.

Was going crazy burning coasters yesterday - running out of time to produce at least one copy of a movie due for a project on Tuesday. Read these forums and yes ... it's true ... cleaning helped for me. Bought a CD/DVD drive cleaner, Staples brand, for $10.95, cleaned my drive twice (i have a MacBook pro, purchased summer 2007, factory-installed SuperDrive) ... and voila. I am burning and burning and burning. Thanks for the tip!!!!!

I am now getting the same Medium write error but only in iPhoto. I can burn CD from iPhoto but not DVD. I tried all the above remedies but no luck. I can burn DVD from any other application including iTunes, iDvd and iMovie. The superdrive is not having any problems reading DVD's or CD's either. I noticed this problem came after a software update. I am going to back up all my photos and try blowing out iPhoto and reinstalling it to see if that helps. I will post my results later.